Caporaletti & Associates

Thanks to Zillow (and other similar services), homeowners have wildly inaccurate ideas of their house value. One real estate lawyer from Illinois even took Zillow to court, claiming that their "sloppy computer-driven appraisal" was actually illegal under Illinois law.

They listed her house a full $90k below her asking price.

Zillow responded by admitting that their algorithm is based on "information can be outdated or missing" because it's little more than a guesstimate derived from public records.

There's obviously a conflict of interest at play here. The seller wants her house to be valued higher than it is, and Zillow (obviously a consumer-facing business) wants her house to be valued lower than it is. The question is, "Where do you meet in the middle?"

That's simple. It's our whole business. We are the intermediary between the buyer and the seller. We have no interest in valuing your home any lower or higher than it really is, because we don't make any money off of the transaction.

So how can you know the true value of your home? Or of a home that you're interested in buying? Easy. Call Caporaletti and Associates at 330-945-4288. We are licensed real estate professionals with tens of years of experience. Zillow is a website. As much as they want you to believe otherwise, you can't shop for houses online like you can shop for shoes (well, you can, but don't expect a good deal).

If you want to be certain that your making the right choice, you need to get your house appraised. We'd love to help.

It’s a question that every homeowner asks themselves at some point, “How much is my home worth?”

Before the 2008 financial crisis, people asking that question were full of optimism, wondering how much money they could put in the bank (maybe even take a vacation to Maui); after, though, all they could see was a mountain of mortgage debt.

But if you live in Summit county (or any surrounding counties), it’s a question we can easily answer for you.

Having a good idea of how much your home is worth is essential in determining your true net worth. If you don’t know the value of your property, you don’t know how much all of your assets are worth. And it's usually very exciting to see how much your home has appreciated over the years.

And, if you’re looking to sell, determining the right asking price for your home is tantamount. People who don’t know the value of their home invariably end up selling it for less than it’s worth.

There are lots of articles that attempt to help you estimate the value of your house, but it’s not as simple as they make it out to be. There are a million factors that could add or detract value from your home.

When it comes down to it, if you want to know how much your property is worth, you have to hire a real estate appraiser.

A real estate appraisal establishes a property’s market value. Appraisals are done by licensed professionals with years of experience and education.

No matter what any internet article tells you, you can’t determine the value of your house from Zillow.

Appraisers have no interest in buying or selling your home. They’re an objective third party. They look at things like

An accurate evaluation of all the real estate in the area

Accessibility to your property

Building foundation degradation

Miscellaneous additions

Among others

Those are just a few examples of ways that Zillow can’t pick up on the true value of your home.

If you haven’t done a professional appraisal, you actually don’t know the true value of your property.

That’s our job here at Caporaletti and Associates. If you want to know how much your house is worth, give us a call at (330) 945-4288 or click “Contact Us” at the top of this page.